Greenfield Village reopening with new exhibit
The Detroit Central Market is the first addition to the village since 2000. The building, which was in use in the city from 1861 to 1893, was previously located in downtown Detroit.
Greenfield Village is reopening on Easter weekend with a new permanent exhibit.
The Detroit Central Market is the first addition to the village since 2000. The building was previously located in Cadillac Square in downtown Detroit. It helped feed millions of Detroiters between 1861 through 1893. The market was a commercial center, entrepreneurship hub and community space.
“We will have it fully accessible to all our guests to come see the beautiful building,” says Johnson, director of Greenfield Village. “It’s a wonderful combination of traditional timber framing, which forms this enormous roof. The building originally was almost the size of a football field.”
Johnson says the property was purchased in 2003.
“We had hoped initially to put it up in 2008. And the huge economic downturn that hit pretty hard sort of put brakes on those plans,” Johnson says. The plan was to start in 2019 but then the pandemic hit the following year.
Greenfield Village will reopen to the public Saturday with tours, history lessons about the Detroit Central Market and Easter themed events such as egg dyeing on Saturday and an egg roll/hunt on Sunday.
Other Greenfield Village programs will make its return as well, including Thomas the Tank Engine May 13-15 and 20-22.
Through June 19, the village will be open to the public from Thursday to Monday.
access by urban consumers. This vegetable shed at Detroit’s Central Market, constructed in
1860 with 48 cast-iron columns and ornate timber framing, provided shelter to dozens of
market gardeners, florists, and other vendors. City officials closed the market and dismantled it in
1894.
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